Kale is New Darling On Plates Everywhere

Wednesday

Sep 26, 2012 at 10:00 PM

Kale is the Jeff Bridges of vegetables — been around forever, utility player, not the flashy type. Until lately. Since being crowned prom king of locavore fads, kale has been putting on airs. All of a sudden, it's cozying up to caramelized onions and being photographed slathered in chanterelles.

By KRISTIN TILLOTSONSTAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS)

Kale is the Jeff Bridges of vegetables — been around forever, utility player, not the flashy type. Until lately.

Since being crowned prom king of locavore fads, kale has been putting on airs. All of a sudden, it's cozying up to caramelized onions and being photographed slathered in chanterelles.

Easy to grow and touted as the new plus ultra of vitamin- and antioxidant-packed superfoods, kale is being used by chefs in just about everything. At Mill Valley Kitchen in St. Louis Park, Minn., for example, you can really kale it up — there's the baby kale salad with manchego, pine nuts and lemon-chile vinaigrette, the grass-fed beef filet with kale, scalloped potatoes and cipollini onion, the scallops with lemon kale, and a side of kale with garlic and Parmesan.

Home-roasted kale chips have become a popular DIY snack food (Gwyneth Paltrow made them on "The Ellen Show"). The once lowly leaves have inspired their own T-shirt, reading "Eat More Kale." It's so darned trendy that Slate essayist Scott Jacobson sarcastically dubbed it "now the only food worth the trouble of digesting."

"People really are crazy for kale," said Susan Berkson, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis Farmers Market. "They're asking for it more, so our growers are growing more, and more variety, too — we're seeing the curly kale, the purple, red, dinosaur, Russian."

But kale has been around the Western world since some roving Celts brought it back to Europe from Asia Minor in about 600 B.C. Why all the interest now?

"It's loaded with things that are good for you, and if people are going to eat their greens, they want them to pack a punch," Berkson said.

The rise of Community Supported Agriculture (more commonly called CSAs) has also contributed to kale's newfound popularity. Because of its hardiness, the leaf has been popular with growers, who stuff their customers' boxes full of the green stuff along with tip sheets on what to do with it. Today there is even "The Book of Kale," by Sharon Hanna (Harbour Publishing).

Not everyone sings kale's praises. Vogue food critic Jeffrey Steingarten recently proclaimed it "not designed ... for human consumption" and added that "the current kale craze is a violation of the Natural Order."

Alex Roberts, chef/owner at Restaurant Alma and Brasa, observes that kale can be "polarizing. But as more people learn how to cook it, how to coax out its seductive flavor, more will like it. It's like Brussels sprouts, when people first tried caramelizing them."

Roberts recommends starting with lacinato, more commonly known as dinosaur or Tuscan kale, "because it caramelizes really easily, and people really like it."

Minneapolis organic-eating pioneer Brenda Langton remembers that not so long ago, most Americans didn't consider it fit to eat.

Langton, who was into kale a couple of decades before it was cool, has some advice for newbies who find the raw leaves a little too earthy for their tastes.

"You don't need to sauté it. That's a common mistake," she said. "Braise it with a quarter cup or so of water, or use apple juice if you want it sweeter."

Place kale on a platter or in shallow, wide bowl. Scatter beans around artfully, then compose the salad by placing the veggies all over. Garnish with parsley. Dress with basil vinaigrette.To make vinaigrette: In a blender, process ingredients until creamy, adding a bit of extra oil if needed.Nutrition information per each of 6 servings:Calories: 244; Fat: 10 g; Sodium: 96 mg Carbohydrates: 33 g; Saturated fat: 1 g; Protein: 9 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Dietary fiber: 6 g[ From "The Book of Kale," by Sharon Hanna. ]

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Set oven rack in the middle.Steam kale for a minute or two. Chop kale finely, squeezing out as much liquid as you can. You should have less than 1 cup chopped kale. (Too much will make the scones sticky.)Blend flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and sugar together. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your fingers.In a small bowl, beat the egg, then add the buttermilk, continuing to beat until well combined. Add egg/buttermilk mixture, along with squash, kale and cheese to dry ingredients, mixing with a fork just to combine.Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment-paper-covered cookie sheet. Bake about 20 minutes until lightly browned.Nutrition information per each of 10: Calories: 210; Fat: 10 g; Sodium: 406 mg; Carbohydrates: 24 g; Saturated fat: 6 g; Protein: 7 g; Cholesterol: 44 mg; Dietary fiber: 1 g

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